Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

Last Day

Last Wednesday, May 26th, was Ben's last day of second grade! It is nearly incomprehensible that in just three months he will be a 9-year old third grader!

He had a very good year, though I don't know if it quite matched the wonderful experience he had in kindegarten and first grade. He especially enjoyed his time in LEAP this year, as well as his friends, library time, and, of course, lunch and recess.

Lori took the day off to celebrate his last day and we went to see Shrek 2 in the evening.

The picture is from the morning of his last day. To celebrate the end of his baseball season, we bought him his first tank top and then he found a Nike headband, which he's always wanted for some reason. What better way to celebrate your last day (and requisite water balloon party) than by wearing both!

Library Geeks Unite!

Please forgive the obvious and revealing geek-ness of this, but here are some great photos of the brand new public library in Seattle (via Robert Scoble). The Bailey's are just the type to incorporate this into a future Washington vacation! One of things we miss most from our nine months in Chicago is the wonderful public libraries in that area. The libraries in Texas are actually quite good, but with no state income tax, they are slighty more limited than other states.

Editing Dad

In the process of launching everything is not funny, a site dedicated to my father's poetry, I've had a lot of interesting experiences. As I am selecting the poems and posting them myself, I've been struck by how much inherent power lies in the hand of an editor. When looking for a poem, there are so many natural biases that reveal themselves. Without being particularly conscious of it, I'm drawn to poems of a certain style, length, attitude and subject matter. After just two months, I can already understand how someone else who was familiar with my father's writing would feel like whole categories of his work were missing. The good news is that nearly all poems will be represented eventually, but I can't deny that I don't plan on including the more personal or person-specific ones.

Another dilemma I've faced is whether to edit the spacing, punctuation, or capitalization of his poems. So far, the decision has been to leave each poem in the state I found it. He was fairly particular about editing and revising his poems again and again, so my instinct is that if something wasn't capitalized, that was his intention.

Of course, the process as a whole has greatly increased my appreciation for his talent and years of effort. I must admit, some of the poems simply blow me away. Hopefully, there will be some like that for many people.

Today's Lyric

Tumbling greens a pickup screams
Alone above the square
Sing softly

Above the trees where Billy breathes
We float upon the air
Softly sings sweet songs
Softly sings sweet songs

Silent scenes emotion beams
I'll wake you when we're there
Sing softly

Time it seems and broken dreams
Asleep beside the stair
Softly sings sweet songs
Softly sings sweet songs

> Phish > Billy Breathes > Billy Breathes

Be Saved!

Roger Ebert gives Saved! a great review. The movie is already somewhat controversial, and I'm confident I'll have my share of disagreements, but I won't miss a chance to see such a clever, provocative film.

BlackBerry Romance

Here's a fun New York Times article on the impact of BlackBerries (handheld phone and email gadget) on the Washington D.C. social world. If I ever make it back to D.C., I'll have to be sure to bring one along just to fit in. I see to remember reading that Karl Rove is an obsessive BlackBerry user, as is Donna Brazille. In fact, they're known to have developed an odd-couple friendship through their BlackBerries.

I fully expect BlackBerries to be part of next season's West Wing.

everything is not funny

Today, I am finally ready to announce a new weblog dedicated to my father's poetry. At the time of his passing, his over twenty years of writing were turned over to me. I spent a lot of time organizing thousands of poems, but have, unfortunately, done very little to make them available to others. At last, there is a new site, everything is not funny, that will provide a daily outlet for his work.

And what of the title? As I've mentioned before, I love to think of titles, and my father made this process especially fun as he loved to play with words. This phrase, everything is not funny, was always one of my favorites. He would usually say it to me when I was thoroughly enjoying some hilarious remark I had made, ideally at his expense. With full deadpan expression, he would look at me and say, "Brian, everything is not funny."

So please enjoy the poetry of John Andrew Bailey. The site begins on April 1, 2004, so be sure to start from the beginning.

No Phishing

Yesterday Phish announced on their website that they are disbanding at the end of their summer tour, once and for all. I'm very sad to hear this, but completely trust and respect their judgement and determination to protect their past as well as their future. The NY Times has a terrific article on the band that tells a very considerate story.

I only saw Phish in person two times, but I'm particularly proud of the first time. It was in 1992 at Michigan State University in the Student Ballroom. They were hardly known at the time and the room only held 400-500 people. It was an incredible concert and a wonderful part of my senior year.

Weblogs in Technology

Chad Dickerson has an excellent column, Blogging Behind the Firewall, on how InfoWorld is beginning to implement weblogs throughout the organization. Here's a sample:

My team has been using the blog-driven IT roadmap in weekly staff meetings as a platform to discuss the initiatives we have completed and to look ahead to new ones. Our meetings no longer have agendas or redundant handouts, because we don’t need them.

Pogue on Mac Office

David Pogue's overview of the new Mac Office from Microsoft.